Great Buildings - Combat Zone

Combat Zone


Hold On To Something


GREAT BUILDINGS (Los Angeles, CA)
Combat Zone b/w Hold On To Something
Columbia (11-02008), 1981

This single has two songs taken from Great Buildings' sole LP, Apart From The Crowd. The band features former Quick members Danny Wilde on guitar/vocals and Ian Ainsworth on bass. The band formed in mid-1978 but didn't release this single and their LP until 1981. Despite touring and having major label support, they never received critical acclaim and dissolved a year later. Several years after that, lead guitarist Phil Solem and Wilde started up the Rembrandts and had much success with their #1 hit and Friends theme-song "I'll Be There For You."

Both cuts on this single are great power pop intended for the commercial consumer. You could definitely hear how this is the transition between The Quick and The Rembrandts. My copy has the band's name misspelled on the label as Great Building, singular, on both sides. I've only ever seen other ones as promo copies which feature the same sleeve, but "Hold On" is on both sides and the band name is spelled correctly. A 12" also exists that has these two songs along with "Maybe It's You," which is another cut featured on the band's Apart From The Crowd album.

Last week, after nearly 30 years in the vault, the band's sophomore effort, Extra Epic Everything, was finally released on CD, along with a bonus track originally intended for the first record. Also, Mondo Deco, the monumental Quick LP from 1976 was recently reissued by Radio Heartbeat on vinyl!